Truck scale management system and method

ABSTRACT

A truck scale management system comprising a server including a processor and a memory having executable instructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor cause the processor to connect to a truck scale system through a communication interface via a virtual scale, the virtual scale comprising a data connection to a physical truck scale in the truck scale system and including attributes of the physical truck scale, retrieve a given virtual kiosk associated with the virtual scale from a database, the given virtual kiosk communicatively accessible from a client device and including one or more customizable functionalities and workflows that interact with the truck scale system, and facilitate communication between the client device and the truck scale system via the given virtual kiosk.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application No.62/862,800, entitled “TRUCK SCALE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM AND METHOD,” filedon Jun. 18, 2019, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material,which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention

This application generally relates to electronic scales for weighing ofheavy-duty trucks, and in particular, to scales with customizableweb-based kiosk interfaces.

Description of the Related Art

Heavy duty truck scales are well known in the art. A truck scale can beused to check individual axle weights and gross vehicle weights todetermine whether the vehicle is safe to travel on public roads orbridges without being stopped and fined by the authorities for beingoverloaded. A truck scale can also be used to check axle weights andgross vehicle weights to determine the weight of a load or amount ofgood being transported. By weighing the vehicle both empty and whenloaded, the load carried by the vehicle can be calculated. Truck scalesare used in industries that manufacture or move bulk items, such as inmines or quarries, garbage dumps/recycling centers, bulk liquid andpowder movement, household goods, and electrical equipment. Since theweight of the vehicle carrying the goods is known (and can beascertained quickly if it is not known by weighing the empty vehicle)they are a quick and easy way to measure the flow of bulk goods in andout of different locations.

Kiosk systems may be used with truck scales to manage the flow of trucksin and out of sites, such as a plant or facility. Kiosk devices caneither be mounted inside a scale house or outside on a post or pedestalnear the truck scale. The kiosk system may facilitate vehiclecheck-in/out and identification, capturing truck weight, and loading onsite. A kiosk may comprise a data collection system that is designedspecifically for those sites. As such, these kiosks can integrate with afacility's central office and accounting systems.

However, existing kiosk systems lack ease and versatility for upgradesand features that can be customized without the need of servicingtechnicians. There is thus a need for a truck scale kiosk system withimproved scalability and customization for scale owners and drivers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a truck scale management system andmethod. According to one embodiment, the truck scale management systemcomprises a server including a processor and a memory having executableinstructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor causethe processor to connect to a truck scale system through a communicationinterface via a virtual scale, the virtual scale comprising a dataconnection to a physical truck scale in the truck scale system andincluding attributes of the physical truck scale, retrieve a givenvirtual kiosk associated with the virtual scale from a database, thegiven virtual kiosk communicatively accessible from a client device andincluding one or more customizable functionalities and workflows thatinteract with the truck scale system, and facilitate communicationbetween the client device and the truck scale system via the givenvirtual kiosk.

The virtual kiosk may include instructions associated with at least oneof: logistics, weighing method, payments, and billing. According to oneembodiment, the virtual scale is associated with a plurality of virtualkiosks. In another embodiment, the given virtual kiosk may be associatedwith a plurality of virtual scales. The processor may further provide aweb interface that includes functionality to create and modify thevirtual scale and the given virtual kiosk. The processor may furtherprovide access to and rendering of the given virtual kiosk on the clientdevice.

Attributes of the physical truck scale may include at least one of: makeand model number, scale type, weighing capability, behavior of thescale, service set identifier, and port number. The processor mayfurther connect to the truck scale system via a service set identifierand a port number. The processor may also further retrieve the givenvirtual kiosk based on a desired utilization of the truck scale systemand authorization given to the client device.

The virtual scale may be associated with a company name and location.The processor may connect to the virtual scale based on the locationassociated with the virtual scale being nearest to a location of theclient device. The processor may also create a geo-fence that specifiesa distance that the client device is permitted to be away from to make avalid connection based on the location associated with the virtualscale. The given virtual kiosk includes pages, user interface elements,and billing options that are created manually or selected frompre-created templates. In another embodiment, the given virtual kioskincludes pay-to-weigh and company-owned operating modes. The givenvirtual kiosk may include tare-then-gross weight, gross-then-tareweight, or gross-weight only weighing methods. The processor may furtherretrieve a string comprising axle weights of a truck including steer,drive, trailer, and gross weight from the truck scale system in a givenmulti-port stream according to a user-indicated format.

According to one embodiment, non-transitory computer-readable mediacomprising program code that when executed by a programmable processorcauses execution of a method for managing truck scale systems. Thecomputer-readable media comprising computer program code for connectingto a truck scale system through a communication interface via a virtualscale, the virtual scale comprising a data connection to a physicaltruck scale in the truck scale system and including attributes of thephysical truck scale, computer program code for retrieving a givenvirtual kiosk associated with the virtual scale from a database, thegiven virtual kiosk communicatively accessible from a client device andincluding one or more customizable functionalities and workflows thatinteract with the truck scale system, and computer program code forfacilitating communication between the client device and the truck scalesystem via the given virtual kiosk.

According to one embodiment, the method comprises connecting to a truckscale system through a communication interface via a virtual scale, thevirtual scale comprising a data connection to a physical truck scale inthe truck scale system and including attributes of the physical truckscale, retrieving a given virtual kiosk associated with the virtualscale from a database, the given virtual kiosk communicativelyaccessible from a client device and including one or more customizablefunctionalities and workflows that interact with the truck scale system,and facilitating communication between the client device and the truckscale system via the given virtual kiosk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawingswhich are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, in which likereferences are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a data flow diagram of a truck scale managementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 presents a data flow diagram of a truck scale management systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 presents another data flow diagram of a truck scale managementsystem according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary data string format according to anembodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 6-15 illustrate exemplary screen interfaces for configuringvirtual scales and kiosks in a truck scale management system accordingto an embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 16-19 illustrate exemplary screen interfaces for operating a scalewith a truck scale management system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Subject matter will now be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, andwhich show, by way of illustration, exemplary embodiments in which theinvention may be practiced. Subject matter may, however, be embodied ina variety of different forms and, therefore, covered or claimed subjectmatter is intended to be construed as not being limited to any exampleembodiments set forth herein; example embodiments are provided merely tobe illustrative. It is to be understood that other embodiments may beutilized and structural changes may be made without departing from thescope of the present invention. Likewise, a reasonably broad scope forclaimed or covered subject matter is intended. Throughout thespecification and claims, terms may have nuanced meanings suggested orimplied in context beyond an explicitly stated meaning. Likewise, thephrase “in one embodiment” as used herein does not necessarily refer tothe same embodiment and the phrase “in another embodiment” as usedherein does not necessarily refer to a different embodiment. It isintended, for example, that claimed subject matter include combinationsof exemplary embodiments in whole or in part. Among other things, forexample, subject matter may be embodied as methods, devices, components,or systems. Accordingly, embodiments may, for example, take the form ofhardware, software, firmware or any combination thereof (other thansoftware per se). The following detailed description is, therefore, notintended to be taken in a limiting sense.

The present application discloses a truck scale management system thatprovides web-accessible kiosk interfaces to truck scales. The truckscale management system may include a platform for creating and editingvirtual kiosks that associate functionalities and workflow with truckscales. A virtual kiosk may comprise software associated with a scalefor logistics, weighing method (e.g., tare then gross weight (“TG”),gross then tare weight (“GT”), or gross weight only (“GO”),reweighment), payments, and billing that can be customized to meet theneed of a specific customer by defining entries in specific tables in adatabase. The platform may allow customers to specify the type of datathat they want their software-defined kiosks to collect and how theywant to subsequently access that data for further analysis. A givenvirtual kiosk may be associated with a particular scale. Additionally,multiple virtual kiosks, that perform different functions, may also beconnected to the same scale. In another embodiment, multiple scales maybe allowed to share the functionality of multiple virtual kiosks.

The platform may include a web interface that provide scale owners withadministrative capabilities to create and modify virtual scales andassociated kiosks. Scale-owners and trucking companies, as well asdrivers, may create accounts and view weighment reports. In oneembodiment, client devices such as smart phones may be used by driversto connect to and interact with scales. A security layer may beestablished where drivers can login to use particular scales.

The disclosed system may increase flexibility with re-provisioning,adding, or expanding kiosk/scale features. The system's device andlocation independence enables users to access a kiosk and scale using aweb application or browser regardless of their location or what devicethey use (e.g., PC, mobile phone). As kiosk and scale interfaces areoff-site and accessed via a network, such as the Internet, users canconnect to the kiosk and scale from anywhere. As such, the presentlydisclosed system provides flexibility of being able to change thevirtual kiosk in real-time and being able to attach any number ofvirtual kiosks to a given scale at a time.

FIG. 1 illustrates a computing system according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The system presented in FIG. 1 includes truck scalesystem 102, communication interface 104, server(s) 106, network 108,truck scale administrator computing device 110, and truck driver device112. Truck scale system 102 may comprise structures and devices that areintegrated with a weighing apparatus that can measure a weight of a railor road vehicle and their contents by truck, axle, or load. Exemplaryweighting apparatuses of the disclosed system include weighbridges,onboard truck weighing systems, axles scales, and wheel weighing pads.The truck scale system 102 may include electronic components such as aload cell including a transducer that converts an analog signal into adigital weight readout.

The truck scale system 102 may be configured with or connected to acommunication interface 104. A truck scale management system comprisingserver(s) 106 may connect to communication interface 104 to establishcommunications over network 108. The communication interface 104 maycomprise hardware and software including networking components, controlsystems, sensors, positioning systems, and wired/wireless connectionsthat allow server(s) 106 to communicate with and control the truck scalesystem 102 in a variety of autonomous, semi-autonomous, or manual modes.The truck scale system 102 operating in an autonomous manner may operateautomatically based upon information provided by server(s) 106, withoutthe need for human operator input. Further, the truck scale system 102operating semi-autonomously may include an operator, either within avicinity of the truck scale system 102 or remotely, who performs sometasks or provides some input while other tasks are performedautomatically based upon instructions provided by the server(s) 106.

Server(s) 106, as described herein, may vary widely in configuration orcapabilities but are comprised of at least a special-purpose digitalcomputing device including at least one or more central processing unitsand memory. The server(s) 106 may also include one or more of massstorage devices, power supplies, wired or wireless network interfaces,input/output interfaces, and operating systems, such as Windows Server,Mac OS X, Unix, Linux, FreeBSD, or the like. In an example embodiment,server(s) 106 may include or have access to memory for storinginstructions or applications for the performance of various functionsand a corresponding processor for executing stored instructions orapplications. For example, the memory may store an instance of theserver(s) 106 configured to operate in accordance with the disclosedembodiments.

According to another embodiment, server(s) 106 may comprise cloudcomputing data centers configured to provide client devices with accessto an application, service, or platform. For example, Software-as-aService (“SaaS”) provides the capability to use a provider'sapplications running on a cloud infrastructure. The applications areaccessible from various client devices through a thin client interfacesuch as a web browser or an application. Cloud computing includes amodel of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand networkaccess to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g.,networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage,applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidlyprovisioned and released with minimal management effort or interactionwith a provider of the service.

Server(s) 106 may connect to truck scale system 102 throughcommunication interface 104 using a virtual scale and communicateoperating instructions to the truck scale system 102 based onsoftware-defined kiosk workflow and information stored in database 114.The truck scale management system may include a platform for creatingand editing virtual kiosks that associate functionalities and workflowwith truck scale system 102. The platform may include a web interfacethat can be accessed over network 108 to provide administrativecapabilities to truck scale administrator computing device 110 to createand modify scales and their associated kiosks. The virtual kiosks may beaccessed by and rendered on truck driver mobile device 112 throughnetwork 108 to utilize truck scale system 102. For example, a scaleowner user (110) may sign on to server(s) 106 via a web portal to createand define a virtual scale. A virtual scale may comprise a softwarerepresentation of a physical truck scale, specifically, the virtualscale definition describes how the truck scale operates and includes adata connection to the physical scale. A virtual scale can have one ormore virtual kiosks connected to it. Truck drivers (112) can connect toa scale's different virtual kiosks, depending upon how they need to usethe scale and the types of authorization they have been given.

Network 108 may be any suitable type of network allowing transport ofdata communications across thereof. The network 108 may couple devicesso that communications may be exchanged, such as between servers andclient devices or other types of devices, including between wirelessdevices coupled via a wireless network, for example. A network may alsoinclude mass storage, such as network attached storage (NAS), a storagearea network (SAN), cloud computing and storage, or other forms ofcomputer or machine readable media, for example. In one embodiment, thenetwork may be the Internet, following known Internet protocols for datacommunication, or any other communication network, e.g., any local areanetwork (LAN) or wide area network (WAN) connection, cellular network,wire-line type connections, wireless type connections, or anycombination thereof. Communications and content stored and/ortransmitted to and from devices may be encrypted using, for example, theAdvanced Encryption Standard (AES) with a 128, 192, or 256-bit key size,or any other encryption standard known in the art.

Truck scale administrator computing device 110 may comprise computingdevices (e.g., desktop computers, laptops, personal digital assistants(PDA), cellular phones, smartphones, tablet computers, or any computingdevice having a central processing unit and memory unit capable ofconnecting to a network). Truck driver mobile device 112 may comprisecomputing devices and vary in terms of capabilities or features, forexample, a cell phone, a tablet computer, a laptop, and in-dash carcomputer, or the like. The truck driver mobile device 112 may comprise aweb-enabled client device, which may include one or more physical orvirtual keyboards, mass storage, one or more accelerometers, one or moregyroscopes, global positioning system (GPS) or other locationidentifying type capability, or a display with a high degree offunctionality, such as a touch-sensitive color 2D or 3D display.

FIG. 2 presents a data flow diagram of a truck scale management systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. A trucking site mayinclude truck scale(s) 202 and site machinery 204. Truck scale(s) 202may comprise one or more weighing apparatuses for measuring the weightof a truck and/or its load. Site machinery 204 may comprise equipment orhardware that are used in conjunction with truck scale(s) 202 such asautomated equipment, sensors, and cameras for loading/unload, scanning,and signaling. Truck scale(s) 202 and/or site machinery 204 may beoperable by truck driver mobile device 112 through virtual scale andkiosk interfaces that are provided by server(s) 106.

Server(s) 106 includes database connection 210, account manager 212,scale/kiosk controller 214, notification service 216, report generator218, and application/cloud gateway 220. A virtual scale and kiosk may beretrieved by truck driver mobile device 112 by logging in or accessingan account with account manager 212. Application/cloud gateway 220 maycomprise an intermediary that allows communication between server(s) 106and truck driver mobile device 112. The application/cloud gateway 220may provide high-level secure network system communication. For example,when truck driver mobile device 112 requests access to resources ofserver(s) 106 such as files, Web pages and databases, the truck drivermobile device may first connect with a proxy server, which thenestablishes a connection with the main server. Account manager 212 maysave and load virtual scales and kiosks through database connection 210.

Scale/kiosk controller 214 may define and associate user interfacecontrols with physical features of truck scale(s) 202 and site machinery204. The scale/kiosk controller 214 may communicate with truck scale(s)202 and/or site machinery 204 through communication interface 104.Communication interface 104 includes network component 206. The networkcomponent 206 may comprise network-related devices (e.g., communicationdevices, routers (e.g., wireline or wireless routers), switches, etc.).In some implementations, one or more network-related devices of thenetwork component 206 can be connected to or interfaced with truckscale(s) 202 and site machinery 204 to facilitate collecting data (e.g.,industrial-automation-system-related data) from the truck scale(s) 202and site machinery 204 or communicating information (e.g., controlsignals, parameter data, configuration data, etc.) to the truck scale(s)202 and site machinery 204.

Account manager 212 may also facilitate billing and payment functionsassociated with the usage of truck scale(s) 202. Report generator 218may generate reports of activity, billings, payments, maintenance, anderrors. Notification service 216 may generate alerts or messages totruck driver mobile device 112 and truck scale administrator computingdevice to report tickets, invoices, confirmations, reminders, warnings,and other system reports.

FIG. 3 presents a data flow diagram of a truck scale management systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. A web interface maybe provided by a truck scale management system on server(s) 106 forscale owners to create virtual scales and kiosks associated with thevirtual scales. A truck scale administrator computing device 110 mayaccess the truck scale management system to initialize a process (302)for creating a virtual scale 304. Virtual scale 304 may comprise arepresentation of a physical scale at truck scale system 102 that isdefined with certain attributes. Attributes of virtual scale 304 maycomprise hardware specifications of the scale including make and modelnumber, scale type, weighing capability, behavior of the scale, aservice set identifier (SSID), and a port number. In one embodiment, anadministrative user may add scale definitions to a database table of thesystem where users may be able to select from when creating their ownuser defined scales.

Virtual scale 304 may also be associated with a company, for example, bylinking the virtual scale to a name and location of the company. Thelocation may include data that contains the latitude and longitude ofthe scale's location. For example, truck driver mobile device 112 usingtruck scale management system to weigh a truck may be presented with ascale having a location nearest to a current location of truck drivermobile device 112. The virtual scale 304 may also include a special codethat an owner of the scale can specify to differentiate scales whenmultiple scales are present on a site. The special code can also be usedto locate a scale, if for example, location services on truck drivermobile device 112 is not available.

According to one embodiment, the location data of the scale may be usedto create a geo-fence that specifies a distance that the truck drivermobile device 112 can be away from the scale in order to make a validconnection. A pre-configured or user-specified distance and units ofdistance may be used to set the geo-fence. The default distance unitsmay be configured for the country where the scale is located. If truckdriver mobile device 112 is within the geo-fence of a scale, the truckdriver mobile device 112 may attempt to connect to the scale and notifyof a successful connection to the scale. The virtual scale 304 may alsobe configured with a weighmaster option that indicates that a driverneeds to call the weighmaster at the scale-house to perform theweighment or to provide a personal identifier number (PIN) or code for adriver to connect to the virtual scale 304.

The truck scale administrator computing device 110 may furtherinitialize a process (306) to create virtual kiosk 308 using the truckscale management system. Virtual kiosk 308 may include a workflow fordisplay on a truck driver mobile device 112. The create kiosk 306process may include defining attributes of the virtual kiosk 308, suchas pages, user interface (UI) elements, and billing options. Virtualkiosk 308 may be created manually or selected from pre-createdtemplates.

Virtual kiosk 308 may be configured with “pay-to-weigh” and“company-owned” operating modes. A pay-to-weigh mode may allowscale-owners to charge drivers for each weighment, whereas thecompany-owned mode may not charge drivers. Weighing methods may also beconfigured for “tare-then-gross weight,” or “gross-then-tare weight,” or“gross-weight only.” Weight units may also be specified to indicateunits to be used for weighment, for example, tons, pounds, kilograms,and metric-tons. A starting ticket value may be configured forgenerating custom ticket numbering sequences. The type of billing mayalso be configured for pay-to-weigh operation including billing to acustomer's account or requesting a PIN associated with an account bespecified, or billing to a credit card.

According to one embodiment, a scale-owner may configure virtual kiosk308 to provide discounts for reweighments, where the cost forreweighment is less than an initial weighment cost within a maximumamount of time that can elapse between the initial weighment and thereweighment in order to receive the discounted price. Changes inreweighment cost and time may also be tracked for future analysis. Aspecial prefix may be assigned to reweighment tickets.

Truck driver mobile device 112 may be used by truck drivers to connectto and interact with truck scale system 102 through virtual scale 304and virtual kiosk 308. Truck driver mobile device 112 may connect totruck scale system 102 via virtual scale 304. Virtual scale 304 mayinclude a SSID and a port number that a Transmission ControlProtocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection can be made to connectwith truck scale system 102. A location specified by a truck driver useror as determined by truck driver mobile device 112 may be provided tovirtual kiosk 308 to verify a correct virtual scale 304 to connect to.Virtual kiosk 308 may comprise an interface with virtual scale 304 thatallows inter-process communications of data from a physical scale attruck scale system 102. Server(s) 106 may create (310) kiosk pages anduser interface elements 312 for rendering on a screen of truck drivermobile device 112 as defined by virtual kiosk 308. Kiosk pages and userinterface elements 312 may include custom text fields, button, drop-downselectors for inputs that have a set of options to choose from.

FIG. 4 presents a data flow diagram of a truck scale management systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. A user from adevice (such as truck driver mobile device 112) may connect to virtualscale 404 through via a TCP/IP connection (402). The virtual scale 404may be automatically selected for a truck driver user on their devicebased coordinates or location code. For example, truck driver mobiledevice 112 may include a location services feature that can detect thelocation of the device using location data, such as GPS. A virtual kiosk406 may be connected to or associated with virtual scale 404 andautomatically downloaded to the truck driver device to display workflowon the device (408).

Payments may be solicited where they are processed (410) by payment 412.Users may pay by methods such as credit card/debit or company accountand/or account pin. Selected payment methods are assigned (414) toaccounts 416. Scale owners may create accounts for trucker users orowner operators. Accounts optionally have PINs for increased securityand may be restricted to specific kiosks.

After payment is processed, ticket(s) are generated (418) and may bestored in a database. Ticket(s) 420 may comprise a digital ticket thatis generated based on data from the scale and any information generatedfrom virtual kiosk 406. Data on ticket(s) 420 may be displayed via thevirtual. Invoices can be generated (422) when ticket(s) 420 are created.

The disclosed system may also include an instrumentation protocol fortransmitting axle weights from a physical scale device to a mobilecomputing device or any other type of computer. Users, through a userinterface, may specify multiple types of string formats that provide theaxle weights and associated data, to the truck scale management systemplatform or any other scale management system. String formats may bespecified in a serial data format may be used to interface with suchcomputing devices. FIG. 5 presents an exemplary data string format thatmay be selected for generating output data from a scale. The serial datamay be transmitted in an ASCII-compatible format.

Users may create and define virtual scales by, for example, signing onto a web portal of a truck scale management system. A virtual scale maycomprise a software representation of a physical truck scale,specifically, the virtual scale definition describes how the truck scaleoperates. FIG. 6 presents an exemplary screen for managing scales thatare owned or managed by an administrative user under an accountaccording to one embodiment of the present invention. The user maycreate, remove, edit, and view virtual scales. Virtual scales maycomprise a digital analog corresponding to a physical scale. A pop-upinterface may be provided to add a new scale as illustrated in FIG. 7A.The user may input information for creating the scale, such as scalehardware, a scale nickname, SSID, port number, location code andinformation (including latitude and longitude, and/or scale address),and a weighmaster requirement option.

FIG. 7B presents an exemplary interface for providing axle weightsaccording to another embodiment of the present invention. If a scaledevice has axle weighing capability, a multi-port stream representationmay be configured as a default stream transmitted. The virtual scale mayoverride this default and to specify exact ports over which differentaxle strings, containing different axle weights, can be sent. The formatof the string/streams that the scale device transmits can be customizedby the scale-owner to accommodate their own specific needs. By providinga user interface to graphically describe the format of the string(s)makes it easier for the user to specify how to electronicallycommunicate with an axle weighing scale.

Axle weights may comprise a steer weight, drive weight, and a trailerweight. Alternatively, the scale device may also provide a data streamwith the sum of these three weights, also known as the total weight. Aweight sum is not required to be specified, as this value may becalculated from the other three weights. The user will therefore be ableto indicate how many data streams will be sent by the scale device andover which ports. Specifically, the user may enter the number of ports,the port numbers, and which of the steer, drive, trailer, and totalweight streams are specified on which port(s). The user interface maythen allow the user to indicate the format of the string(s) by typing itin or selecting from a list and graphically indicating where the steerweight, drive weight, and trailer weight, and possibly total weight arein the string.

For multiple ports, the user may indicate the format of the particularstring sent over the specified port. The user may also indicate where amotion flag, if one exists, and where the weight units are locatedwithin each string. If there are separate multiple ports, then the usermay indicate which weight string, e.g., steer or drive or trailerweight, is sent over which port. The user can also indicate if a totalweight is sent and over which port. The user indicate which parts of thestring corresponds to weight, weight units, and motion flag.

An application programming interface (API) may obtain and save thesestrings and annotate them with appropriate delimiters so that they canbe matched against a regular expression that describes how the string(s)are to be parsed. The system may parse the user-indicated format of thestring and ask the user to confirm that each value is correct. If thevalues are not correct, then the user may be shown the problematic partof the string and be given an opportunity to fix it. After fixing thestring, the user can have the system try to parse string again. Once astring representation has been successfully parsed and saved, an API maybe able to retrieve it, so that users or administrators can modify it.The user may take the result of the API and display it, for example, onthe web, so that the user can see which parts of the string(s)represents the steer, drive, trailer weight, and the other parts of thestring(s) that were originally saved.

Any one of created virtual scales may be selected for viewing of scaleinformation and details. The exemplary illustration of FIG. 8 presents ascale view of a given one of existing virtual scales in the account. Thescale view may display information that was provided in creating thevirtual scale. The scale view may also allow the user to modify thescale (information) or duplicate the virtual scale to create anotherscale entry.

A virtual scale can have one or more virtual kiosks connected to it. Thescale view may include an option to view, create, and remove kiosks forthe virtual scale, as provided in the illustration of FIG. 9 . A virtualkiosk may be created to electronically document the use of a scale, forexample, to accept credit card payments or account billing for pay toweigh scales. A virtual kiosk may also be configured to record itemssuch as truck and trailer IDs as well as the material being weighed.Multiple kiosks may be created for a scale. Truck driver users mayconnect to a scale's different virtual kiosks, depending upon how theyneed to use the scale and the types of authorization they have beengiven.

FIG. 10 presents an exemplary kiosk view of a given kiosk created for avirtual scale according to one embodiment of the present invention. Theuser may view and edit a given virtual kiosk and its pages. Each kioskmay include a workflow of pages that can be added and edited. A user maycreate pages that define the workflow for the kiosk, as illustrated inFIG. 11 . Pages of a kiosk may define types of data that are solicitedby the kiosk. An order of which pages presented by the kiosk may also beconfigured. For example, to customize the order of kiosk pages, anattribute box (e.g., “MATERIAL DESTINATION,” INSURANCE PROVIDER,” ORTRUCK INFORMATION”) may be dragged and rearranged in a desired order.Pages may contain a title, description, a UI element type, and UIelement attributes. FIG. 12 presents an exemplary interface for adding anew UI element on a given page according to one embodiment. A UI elementmay be used to define a predefined list of inputs that may be selectedfrom, e.g., text-fields, buttons, and drop-down selectors.

FIG. 13 presents an exemplary tickets interface according to oneembodiment of the present invention. The administrative user may be ableto view scale tickets and driver tickets produced by the scalemanagement system from the operation of the kiosk and scales. Ticketsmay be retrieved for any period, e.g., daily, weekly, monthly, annual,etc. A ticket may include information, such as scale name, locationcode, weight, payment method, and weighment cost.

The disclose truck scale management system may be a highly securedsystem with role-based application entitlement. The administrator usermay be allowed to create user access to truck scale management system,as illustrated in FIG. 14 . Users may be invited as either a truckdriver user or an administrator. The ability to create virtualscales/kiosks and authorize invoice payments may be limited toadministrators, whereas truck driver users may be limited to accessingthe virtual kiosk/scales to weigh their trucks.

FIG. 15 presents an exemplary interface for exporting delivery andinvoice data from the scales and kiosks according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. The interface may allow for selection ofparticular jobs data to export, such as from particular scales orkiosks. Scale and kiosk data may be exported in file formats, such asPortable Document Format (PDF), spreadsheet (e.g., Excel), andComma-Separated Values (CSV).

FIGS. 16 and 17 present exemplary interfaces for using accessing andutilizing a scale configured with a truck scale management systemaccording to an embodiment of the present invention. A truck driver maypull onto a truck scale and tap a “connect to scale” button on anapplication executing on a mobile device to connect to a scale. Theapplication may connect to the scale via an SSID and port number andpull a string containing axle weights of a truck including steer, drive,trailer, and gross weight (“Weigh In”). The weight is displayed on thedriver's mobile device. If the driver has not turned on data locationservices on the mobile device, then a location code displayed at thetruck site may be inputted to tell the server of the application thelocation. This will the mobile device to automatically connect to thescale.

Once connected to the scale, the application may download an appropriatevirtual kiosk for the truck driver. The application may then build andrender custom views based on the parameters from the pages defined inthe virtual kiosk. The application may then guide the truck driverthrough the customized work flow of the virtual kiosk (“Step 1,” “Step2,” “Step 3,” “Location—Address,” Review,” and “Payment . . .mpleted.”).

In one example, if weighing gross weight, the driver may be asked if thetruck is already on the scale and ready for gross weigh in. Once thedriver taps yes, weight may be captured and saved, along with date andtime of the weighing. The driver may be prompted to confirm the weightand the fact that a gross weight was captured should be recorded. If aweighmaster is required (as configured in the virtual kiosk), then thedriver may be told to call the weighmaster to complete the weighment.Additionally, in the event of weighing by TG and the current weighing isthe gross weighing, a reweighment cost may be given for this ticket.Similarly, if weighing by GT and the current weighing is tare weighing,a reweighment cost may be given for this ticket.

For pay to weigh virtual kiosks, the truck driver may input credit cardor company account information for automatic billing in order to pay forthe weighment. A ticket may then be generated in a database. In caseswhere no payment is required for the use of the scale, then no paymentinformation is requested. The virtual kiosk may allow a scale owner tohave his scale used as either a credit card or an account-based pay toweigh scale or as a free scale, depending on who is using it. Differenttypes of information and work flow may be collected and presented,depending on the truck driver who is using the kiosk.

Users can view a history of all tickets generated for a particularvirtual kiosk/scale (as shown in FIG. 18 ) and view any data associatedwith the virtual kiosk/scale. This includes, but is not limited to, datainputted on the virtual kiosk, exemplified in FIG. 19 .

FIGS. 1 through 19 are conceptual illustrations allowing for anexplanation of the present invention. Notably, the figures and examplesabove are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention to asingle embodiment, as other embodiments are possible by way ofinterchange of some or all of the described or illustrated elements.Moreover, where certain elements of the present invention can bepartially or fully implemented using known components, only thoseportions of such known components that are necessary for anunderstanding of the present invention are described, and detaileddescriptions of other portions of such known components are omitted soas not to obscure the invention. In the present specification, anembodiment showing a singular component should not necessarily belimited to other embodiments including a plurality of the samecomponent, and vice-versa, unless explicitly stated otherwise herein.Moreover, applicants do not intend for any term in the specification orclaims to be ascribed an uncommon or special meaning unless explicitlyset forth as such. Further, the present invention encompasses presentand future known equivalents to the known components referred to hereinby way of illustration.

It should be understood that various aspects of the embodiments of thepresent invention could be implemented in hardware, firmware, software,or combinations thereof. In such embodiments, the various componentsand/or steps would be implemented in hardware, firmware, and/or softwareto perform the functions of the present invention. That is, the samepiece of hardware, firmware, or module of software could perform one ormore of the illustrated blocks (e.g., components or steps). In softwareimplementations, computer software (e.g., programs or otherinstructions) and/or data is stored on a machine-readable medium as partof a computer program product and is loaded into a computer system orother device or machine via a removable storage drive, hard drive, orcommunications interface. Computer programs (also called computercontrol logic or computer-readable program code) are stored in a mainand/or secondary memory, and executed by one or more processors(controllers, or the like) to cause the one or more processors toperform the functions of the invention as described herein. In thisdocument, the terms “machine readable medium,” “computer-readablemedium,” “computer program medium,” and “computer usable medium” areused to generally refer to media such as a random access memory (RAM); aread only memory (ROM); a removable storage unit (e.g., a magnetic oroptical disc, flash memory device, or the like); a hard disk; or thelike.

The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fullyreveal the general nature of the invention that others can, by applyingknowledge within the skill of the relevant art(s) (including thecontents of the documents cited and incorporated by reference herein),readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specificembodiments, without undue experimentation, without departing from thegeneral concept of the present invention. Such adaptations andmodifications are therefore intended to be within the meaning and rangeof equivalents of the disclosed embodiments, based on the teaching andguidance presented herein. It is to be understood that the phraseologyor terminology herein is for the purpose of description and not oflimitation, such that the terminology or phraseology of the presentspecification is to be interpreted by the skilled artisan in light ofthe teachings and guidance presented herein, in combination with theknowledge of one skilled in the relevant art(s).

What is claimed is:
 1. A truck scale management system comprising: aserver including: a processor, and a memory having executableinstructions stored thereon that when executed by the processor causethe processor to: connect to a truck scale system through acommunication interface via a virtual scale, the virtual scalecomprising a data connection to a physical truck scale in the truckscale system and including attributes of the physical truck scale;retrieve a given virtual kiosk associated with the virtual scale from adatabase, the given virtual kiosk communicatively accessible from aclient device and including one or more customizable functionalities andworkflows that interact with the truck scale system; and facilitatecommunication between the client device and the truck scale system viathe given virtual kiosk.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the virtualkiosk includes instructions associated with at least one of: logistics,weighing method, payments, and billing.
 3. The system of claim 1 whereinthe virtual scale is associated with a plurality of virtual kiosks. 4.The system of claim 1 wherein the given virtual kiosk is associated witha plurality of virtual scales.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein theprocessor further provides a web interface that includes functionalityto create and modify the virtual scale and the given virtual kiosk. 6.The system of claim 1 wherein the processor further provides access toand rendering of the given virtual kiosk on the client device.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the attributes of the physical truck scaleinclude at least one of: make and model number, scale type, weighingcapability, behavior of the scale, service set identifier, and portnumber.
 8. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor further connectsto the truck scale system via a service set identifier and a portnumber.
 9. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor further retrievesthe given virtual kiosk based on a desired utilization of the truckscale system and authorization given to the client device.
 10. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein the virtual scale is associated with a companyname and location.
 11. The system of claim 10 wherein the processorfurther connects to the virtual scale based on the location associatedwith the virtual scale being nearest to a location of the client device.12. The system of claim 10 wherein the processor further creates ageo-fence that specifies a distance that the client device is permittedto be away from to make a valid connection based on the locationassociated with the virtual scale.
 13. The system of claim 1 wherein thegiven virtual kiosk includes pages, user interface elements, and billingoptions that are created manually or selected from pre-createdtemplates.
 14. The system of claim 1 wherein the given virtual kioskincludes pay-to-weigh and company-owned operating modes.
 15. The systemof claim 1 wherein the given virtual kiosk includes tare-then-grossweight, gross-then-tare weight, or gross-weight only weighing methods.16. The system of claim 1 wherein the processor further retrieves astring comprising axle weights of a truck including steer, drive,trailer, and gross weight from the truck scale system in a givenmulti-port stream according to a user-indicated format. 17.Non-transitory computer-readable media comprising program code that whenexecuted by a programmable processor causes execution of a method formanaging truck scale systems, the computer-readable media comprising:computer program code for connecting to a truck scale system through acommunication interface via a virtual scale, the virtual scalecomprising a data connection to a physical truck scale in the truckscale system and including attributes of the physical truck scale;computer program code for retrieving a given virtual kiosk associatedwith the virtual scale from a database, the given virtual kioskcommunicatively accessible from a client device and including one ormore customizable functionalities and workflows that interact with thetruck scale system; and computer program code for facilitatingcommunication between the client device and the truck scale system viathe given virtual kiosk.
 18. A method, in a data processing systemcomprising a processor and a memory, for managing truck scale systems,the method comprising: connecting to a truck scale system through acommunication interface via a virtual scale, the virtual scalecomprising a data connection to a physical truck scale in the truckscale system and including attributes of the physical truck scale;retrieving a given virtual kiosk associated with the virtual scale froma database, the given virtual kiosk communicatively accessible from aclient device and including one or more customizable functionalities andworkflows that interact with the truck scale system; and facilitatingcommunication between the client device and the truck scale system viathe given virtual kiosk.